Gareth Ainsworth was proud of the collective efforts of his team as Gillingham came away with a well-deserved point in a 0-0 draw at Colchester United.
The Gills boss spoke about the strong performances of Aaron Rowe and Travis Akomeah, with the latter making his EFL debut.
Ainsworth credited the tight-knit atmosphere in the dressing room, with many first-team players not involved due to injury, making the trip to Colchester to support the team.
Post-match thoughts…
I’m really proud of the boys. It was my first 0-0 draw, and this is a tough place to come, by the way. Danny Cowley has got them fighting and playing really well, so you have got to give them credit, but then the credit goes to us because we have contained a team that not many teams have been able to contain lately.
We worked on stuff on their counter-attack, and I was pleased that the lads dealt with that. We had an overload in the midfield at times, and we worked that quite well, especially in the second-half. It was just the want of slipping someone in, or getting someone in the right areas at the right time.
I think that Aaron Rowe has had one cleared off the line in the first-half, but I think that they had one off the line.
It was a full blooded game today. It was two local teams going at it, and we have moved the fixture. We were the only two teams in League Two playing today. Fair play to Colchester and fair play to Gillingham.
Our fans never stopped singing, again. They were absolutely brilliant. This is a tough place to come, and I am pleased to get a draw. A draw away from home is always good. I just want to start winning the home games now.
On Aaron Rowe and Travis Akomeah…
Aaron did this at Crewe. He played this left wing-back role, but because the way in which we play is quite aggressive with our wing-backs, I think that he enjoys it. There is still more to come from Aaron. He was unlucky not to score a goal today.
Travis, what a great guy! What a physique, and I think that he has learnt plenty today about playing in League Two, because he has been at Chelsea and Watford in the 23s. He got battered about today and ended up coming off with a cramp, and that tells me that he has given everything. That is all that I ever want.
The tight knit relationship in the playing squad…
This injury list is hurting, but come Christmas, I am hoping that we will get some back. One of the proudest things was that about eight of the squad have come up today to watch the game.
I am not sure that there are other teams that go away from home, and they have done it off their own backs. They have driven here and are ringing up for car parking spaces, asking, ‘Can I come and support the boys?’ They want the boys to win. They were ready to run down the touchline in the last minutes, but that’s what we have got here. That’s what we have built. The fans are included, and that’s great. I am really proud today.
On four successive draws…
It says that we’re hard to beat, without a doubt. I’d rather be hard to beat than a team that concedes. Draws are horrible because you’d rather win two and lose two, rather than draw four points-wise. Performance-wise, you have got to give credit to the boys. They are hard to beat, and it’s another clean sheet. It says that we are building, but I will point to this injury list.
We have got Josh Andrews, Sam Vokes and Jonny Smith [unavailable] - all of these forwards are great players who are out. Conor Masterson, who is an absolute warrior. Nelson Khumbeni, another competitive midfielder. I think that in context, the draws are good because we have a big injury list, but I’m not stupid, as 46 draws isn’t a good season. We have to win some games, and we will try that on Saturday.
